Governor Bill Lee has released his amendment to the original proposed 2021-2022 budget. The amendment includes $580 million in available funds. Per the Governor’s release, these funds will be invested in strategic long-term projects that focus on a return to pre-pandemic priorities and deliver critical services while not growing government.
You can watch Commissioner of Finance & Administration Commissioner Butch Eley present the amendments to the proposed budget to the House and Senate Finance Committees.
One notable item included is $5M for a pilot program to provide grants for historic preservation! More to come regarding this program once the budget has been passed later in May – stay tuned!
This funding is in addition to the other funding AIA was encouraged to see in the budget document released earlier in the year relative to unprecedented investment in capital outlay and improvements. Both of these investments were priorities for AIA this year and defending its inclusion in the final budget has been our focus for the past few weeks.
The House and Senate leadership analyzed the Governor’s itemized list and created an edited version that funds additional legislative priorities. It is not out of the question for tweaks to be made to the Governor’s base budget, too, so this is a negotiation where all pieces are on the table until the very end.
The legislature has an ambitious goal of getting the budget bill to the floor for a vote by the end of the week. The bills not funded will be promptly sent to the holding cauldron to await discussion next budget cycle and adjournment could be within the next two weeks!
With your help, the AIA has had a successful year influencing policy to reflect the mission of the association.